Write of Passage
by BoredOrBroken
Summary: When Danny comes across a lost fragment of an artifact from legends, the Ghost Zone won't stay silent. Especially not when the artifact is a part of the key to the realm that everyone wants to be a part of. Things can never be simple.
1. Prologue

**Oh, I'm looking forward to writing this one.**

* * *

 _Eons pass for the wanderers of the soul._

 _Entities seek this hidden paradise,_

 _of legends passed and stories of ole._

 _For neither virtue nor vice,_

 _and greed nor goal,_

 _are judged there by any device._

 _Trek open-minded and self-aware._

 _Look with an eye not of greed nor ire._

 _Keep this thought near, and bare_

 _this guidance you may need prior._

 _For those that pursue this lost land,_

 _I wish for them, no less, than success._

 _Let the pages in your very hand_

 _be the first step towards Elsewhereness…_

* * *

"Clockwork!" Two Observants called upon entering through the time ghost's door.

Without sparing the pair a glance, Clockwork continued watching the time stream silently. "For what reason did you bring your presence here?"

The two eyeballs looked at each other briefly, before they both floated closer in unison. "You've already seen the future," one spoke.

"You know what is about to come," the other added.

The master of time sighed, turning into his youthful form in the process. "I have," he confirmed.

"We should act before the entirety of the Ghost Zone plunges itself into senseless chaos."

Clockwork shifted to his eldest form. "We have no reason to act."

The second of the two pointed towards one of the screens. "Don't forget that your responsibility," the screen that was pointed at revealed Danny Phantom soaring through the ghost zone, before promptly crashing face first into one of the floating mounds of rock, "is what will prompt the mayhem."

The hand not occupied by his staff was fisted and rested against his waist. "Now that's just plain bias." Clockwork frowned as he shifted towards his adult form. "You can't simply blame him for every trivial disturbance in the Ghost Zone."

"Trivial? Disturbance?" one observant questioned.

"Nearly the entire Ghost Zone will be involved," the other followed up.

Clockwork's face remained neutral as he responded. "So too during the release of Pariah just over two years ago. We didn't interfere then."

"Because we already saw the inevitable outcome that was his defeat."

"By Daniel," Clockwork added.

"Who has now been deemed by the council as an unpredictable outlier of the time stream-"

"For the tribunal, maybe," he countered.

"-ever since your interference two years ago."

Clockwork shook his head. "You can't deny that compared to past incidents, this is a trifling case."

"Depending on which timeline."

"Which is set on the optimal path. That, I can guarantee."

The duo grunted. "Very well. We shall leave the discussion at that."

Clockwork nodded towards his guests. "Now, leave me be. You can inform the council that everything will be taken care of on its own. Their concern is unwarranted."

"You better know what you ar-"

"I know what I am doing." He turned back towards one of the multiple monitors around them.

The two Observants vaguely bowed before heading out the door.

"I always have, I always do, and I always will."

* * *

 **A/N: …I own nothing. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.**

 **Let the adventure begin.**


	2. Chapter 1

**No Phantom Planet (still can't believe such a great show got axed and that was the end)**

* * *

Danny Fenton groaned aloud, plunging his face into the pages of the English textbook open in his hands. "What am I doing with my life?" He flopped his arms and legs down against Sam's bed that he was lying on.

Tucker Foley, seated on the floor with his back to the mattress, didn't look up from his PDA that was flashing a large title saying _World History Notes_. "Nothing much right now," he responded. He tapped the screen and scrolled down.

Seated at her desk, Sam Manson turned around on her swivel chair. "You won't be doing much with it with that attitude."

Danny lifted his head off his book and gaped at his favorite radical female goth. "I don't even have much of it remaining anyways!"

"Then make the best of it, you walking postmortem meatsack," Sam retorted before turning back towards her notes on Trigonometry.

Tucker snickered as Danny proceeded to whine for the goth's attention. "I don't wanna study for finals!" the bored teenager declared. It was the trio's junior year of high school. And it was almost finals week.

More than two and half years have passed since Danny Phantom first appeared in Amity Park, and things have changed since. His parents' have more or less accepted his ghostly persona as rather a nuisance than a threat to the town, deeming he wasn't at least hellbent on taking over the world any time soon. Valerie had already let bygones be bygones after finding out the truth and mulling things over for a while, making the Red Huntress an official addition to Team Phantom just before sophomore year started. And Jazz had finally graduated high school as valedictorian, leaving Amity Park in the care to the rest of the team. All in all, Danny and the team could confidently say that things were looking up – except for school.

The techno-geek reached up, "there, there," and patted the complaining teen's head in mock comfort. Danny slapped the offending hand away while pouting.

"Come on~" the boy continued to cry, "Sammy– oomf!" His face had promptly met with a plush purple pillow.

Sam pointed towards him. "No calling me that. Remember?"

When Danny parted his face from his pillow, it revealed a teasing smile. "You know you like it." The black haired high-schooler immediately yelped and ducked as a small paperback book zoomed over his head.

Tucker failed at keeping his face composed at the two's antics. He grinned as he spoke in between them, "come on you idiot couple. Spare me from the lovefest, at least when Valerie isn't here." The purple pillow was dropped on his head. But teasing them is (almost) always worth it.

Sam looked down towards the friend seated on her carpet and snorted. "Why? Feeling lonely being the third wheel here?" Her boyfriend continued to push the pillow against Tucker's head, grinning tauntingly.

The geek forced the cushioning off his head with both arms. "As if," he said as he seized the pillow out of his best friend's grasp. "With these looks, that's hardly an issue," he claimed aloud jokingly with an exaggerated boisterous attitude that his two best friends laughed at. He then flung the pillow back to its owner's face. "It's just that she enjoys teasing you two as much as I do."

"Oh?" With one hand, Sam grabbed the pillow midflight, raising a brow, and giving the look of accepting a challenge. This immediately earned a gulp from Tucker.

Before the impending beatdown by the hands of the goth could begin, Danny bounced off the bed. "I wanna go flying!" The halfa began to dash for the open window. He was just about to transform before slim fingers baring violet nail polish clung to the back of the collar of his shirt.

"You just went flying a couple hours ago."

"Come on, guys," Danny began whining again. "Exams don't even start till Wednesday! We've been studying since we got out of school. We don't need to be spending every waking moment on this now!"

Tucker watched from the side, amused at the scene before him. He put his PDA to sleep and began to store away his things in the backpack set next to him on the floor. As predicted, Sam finally relented after staring up at Danny's puppy pout face. She released the collar with a sigh.

"So, what do you want to do then?" she asked.

Danny pondered. He tapped his chin with his finger for a few seconds. "Well, there haven't been any ghost attacks recently, which made this past week kind of boring…"

* * *

Somewhere in the far reaches of the Ghost Zone, two armed figures, one baring a quiver and bow and the other baring a large double sided ax, can be seen winding between the gaps of the many floating land and doors. The two paused upon reaching the entrance of what appeared to be the opening towards a cave. No sound was made as they unhesitatingly entered.

As they made their way past the barren walls of the cave, the narrow path began to widen, leading the duo to a room dimly lit by the green flames of torches. At the center of the room was a rather grandiose throne that didn't match the bleak rock walls of the cave. And on the throne sat the fallen prince, Aragon, who appeared to be contemplating with his eyes closed.

The two promptly knelt before the seated figure. Expectant, red eyes opened and focused on the two.

"Well?" Aragon spoke after a moment of silence.

Neither rose their heads as the Executioner Ghost spoke for them. "My apologies, your highness. No progress has been made."

A growl began to emanate from the prince, his grip tightening on the armrest of his seat. "How am I supposed to usurp my throne, and my kingdom, back from my pathetic excuse of a sister if you imbeciles can't even recruit a single more soldier into my army!"

"Forgive us, your majesty," the Executioner Ghost pleaded. "But it is difficult for us to perform this task when you explicitly ordered for all of our actions to remain hidden. That includes the recruitment into our forces."

"What forces?" Aragon spat. "Our forces haven't increased by a single soldier since two years ago! All we have are what few loyal subjects I have remaining since the rebellion and the foolish weaklings you've managed to employ."

The Archer Ghost finally raised his head and spoke. "Your majesty, please. We just need more time."

Aragon turned towards him with a growing rage. "Time?! The kingdom had been under my rule, frozen in time, for centuries! And in just a single day, I was defeated in combat, banished from _my_ kingdom, and lost all my power and influence in the realm!" He rose to his feet, "and you expect me to wait even longer after these two years of such little progress?!"

Still maintaining their kneeling position, they flinched back from the outburst.

The flames lining the walls of the room rose with the prince's anger. Remembering the humiliation of his defeat by the hands of the halfa and his human partners made his ectoplasm boil. Instead of being imprisoned within the confines of his own castle, Dorathea decided to banish him from the realm all together. The only remaining symbols of his power now are the two subjects before him, their few subordinates, and the amulet they managed to smuggle out of the kingdom dangling on his pale neck.

"Get back out there and continue to seek out more ghosts that will serve under me in my army" the prince ordered as he pointed towards the exit the minions came from. He sat back down on his throne.

The two subjects nodded their heads, looked back down towards the rock ground to bow, then rose and promptly left the cave.

* * *

Danny, in Phantom form, yelped as he dodged a blast aimed at his shoulder. "Ha!" The teen glanced back and called out, "you missed!" then flew off next to the Specter Speeder. The ghost shrieked profanities in Latin and flipped him off before slamming his realm door. Danny cackled.

In the driver seat of the speeder was Sam, who gave him an unamused look. "Playing ding dong ditch in a dimension full of floating doors leading to even more irritated spectral entities capable of mass destruction, and then offending them with a wide array of insults, is why Amity Park will never be safe from ghosts," she deadpanned.

"It's fine," the halfa waved it off. "That Workaholic Ghost needs to get out more."

Tucker looked up from his PDA screen surprised, and somewhat impressed. "Since when did you get acquainted with a ghost that's obsessed with work?" He pressed the Fenton Phone closer into his ear for better hearing.

"Remember that time months ago, where Vlad got so swamped in mayor duties that at one point he fell asleep midflight to his manor as Plasmius and landed on your roof?"

"How could I not? Mom and dad almost called your parents thinking it was an attack." An irritated expression appeared on his face at the reminder of the event.

"Well, essentially, Vlad hired him as an assistant for a while."

"Whoops." Sam swerved to the right, avoiding an incoming rock. "I can't believe your first idea for entertainment is going into the Ghost Zone, _because_ there haven't been any ghost attacks recently."

Danny flew closer to the vehicle. "Well, there wasn't anything else I could think of. We've done everything else from bowling and movies, to prank calling my parents into believing Jazz's college campus is being haunted."

The aforementioned genius elder sister was currently away at Yale, unsurprisingly on a full ride scholarship there. And with summer break soon approaching, the proud parents were preparing to pick up Jazz and help her move out of her dorm room. That is, until Danny and co. decided it would be a glorious idea to annoy Jazz by sending the eccentric couple there early to spend a few days searching for a probably nonexistent ghost. Their parents were probably going to return with only a few speeding tickets, because most of the police would probably be unable to catch up to them.

The trio continued to wander the expansive space of the Ghost Zone while Danny proceeded to list every single activity they've accomplished throughout the week. "The only thing we haven't done this past week is- mmph!"

Sam stepped on the brakes of the Specter Speeder. She and Tucker looked back towards their half-ghost friend who stopped flying. "Seriously?" The female rested her hands on her hips in an irked manner. "There's littering in the Ghost Zone too?" A piece of paper floating in the Ghost Zone seemed to have flapped straight into Danny's face, covering it.

Danny pulled the sheet off his face, looking at it in confusion. The look of bewilderment only grew as he scanned over the contents of the paper.

"Is something wrong?" Tucker called out.

The teen being addressed continued his comedic act of turning the page around and looking at it various angles. Danny seriously had no clue what he was looking at.

Sam called out for his attention this time. "Danny?"

"A spider? I think that's an eyeball…or maybe a sun?" he mumbled to himself as he turned the page upside down. "What in Clockwork's name am I looking at?"

""Danny!""

"Ow!" Danny flinched at the sudden outburst straight into his ear through the Fenton Phones. "What?" he looked towards his two best friends.

"You just suddenly stopped," Sam stated. "What is it?"

Danny looked back down towards the paper in his hands. "…I have absolutely no idea." The paper was obviously very old, thick and stiff, its edges worn and torn. Scratchy markings that seemed to be the text lined the pages. On the paper, seemed to be a large image of a spider. Aside from the arachnid on the page, everything else was foreign to Danny.

At that moment, Tucker's PDA began to beep. Its owner looked down towards the screen. "Guys, we should head back. We can look at that thing later." The teen turned up to the swirling green expanse of the Ghost Zone. "We're starting to reach unfamiliar territory, and it'll be pretty late by the time we get back."

The team turned around and headed back for the Fenton Ghost Portal. Along the way, Danny continued to look over the paper. After a while, by the request of Sam and Tucker, Danny held up the paper in front of the windshield to show to them. And as Tucker took pictures… "Beware!"

Three groans resounded in unison.

Danny continued to hold up the page. "Hi, Boxy," he greeted dully. Sam rolled her eyes while Tucker just looked bored and unimpressed. The three didn't spare him a glance.

The Box Ghost proceeded to fly closer, with his arms waving dramatically, and laughing triumphantly. As he got closer, preparing for his usual monologue, he stopped. "What's that?" he pointed towards the paper in Danny's hand.

The teen ghost sighed. "I have no idea. I just found it floating around." Danny turned to show a portion of the ancient text.

As the Box Ghost got closer to see, he gasped. And even louder than the teens expected him to be than usual, he screamed, "Sojourn's journal page!"

Danny and the team just blinked. "Who's what now?" The ghost teen just looked at him perplexed. But that didn't last long as the Box Ghost immediately flung a wooden crate towards his abdomen, releasing his grip on the paper and knocking him back.

The Box Ghost grinned from the successful shot, flying forward to grab the page. But before his fingers even touched the paper, Sam had pressed a large button on the dashboard of the Specter Speeder, revealing a net launcher attached to the vehicle. He was pushed back and trapped against the net and thick tree trunk.

Phantom recovered quickly and flew right back to the speeder. "Okay. Should have seen that one coming," he stated as he reached for the paper. "Let's go."

Sam and Tucker nodded, and the three fled the scene straight to the portal.

* * *

"Hey~ Box Ghost!" A rather plain spectral figure, with his similarly simple companion following behind, greeted the plump figure tangled in wiring. "You went and pestered Skulker again?"

The Box Ghost stopped his struggling and looked towards the ghost before him. "No, it was Phantom."

"What? That guy's here?" The two glanced at their surroundings.

"He already left a while ago." He pushed against the trunk and net again. "I got trapped by his human friends after attacking him," he grunted after failing again.

The two ghosts looked at each other briefly, before bursting into laughter. "Why do you still bother with the kid? I thought you stopped attacking the human realm as often now."

Irked at their humored expressions, "I couldn't help myself, okay?" the Box Ghost retorted. "He was holding a page of Sojourn's journal just right in front of me."

"…A page of Sojourn's journal?"

"Yeah. At least I think it was." He grunted again as he heaved his entire weight forward against the net, only to be flung back and bash his head against the wood. "Ow."

The two ghosts looked and mirrored each other's curious expression, cackled, and flew off.

The Box Ghost blinked. "Wait! Can't you get me out of this net first? Hello?" He watched the green figures fading away into the depths of the Ghost Zone. "…Beware?"

* * *

 **A/N: Like I said…things have changed over time.**


	3. Chapter 2

**…I don't have to say anything.**

* * *

When ghost attacks become the norm of the city, Amity Park is bound to become accustomed to certain aspects that come with them. Some of which include explosions, screaming, screeching tires, shattering glass and asphalt, and ecto-blasts.

And Danny Phantom crashing down onto your property.

The middle aged male driver blinked, trying to process what just happened literally three feet from his face. And by the time he did, he just shrugged and pulled out his phone. Insurance had these kinds of things covered now. He waved towards the teen hero who pushed himself up on his car hood, who also waved back with a tired smile. The man watched, unaffected at the sight of the local hero flying off in an odd manner, like something was pulling him by the waist.

Eyebrows were raised as spectators watched Phantom seemingly ecto-blast thin air while talking to it as well. Some of the members of the populace wondered if the teen hero had finally fallen off the deep end, but then again, he's been seen doing something similar in the past. And some of the nearby children and teens are cheering and pointing at the general area of Phantom's target. The adults just shrugged to themselves, treating it as if it was to be expected, seeing as if there was a ghost now, this would make it the eleventh public fight in the past twelve hours.

The citizens of the ghost ridden city recoiled as Phantom suddenly screamed in a frustrated manner. Multiple people made out the words "every hour," "tired," and "it's just a piece of paper!" before he just aimed the usual Fenton Thermos and bolted away to who knows where.

…Nope. Nothing new.

* * *

Resting in the leisure of Danny's bedroom, Sam and Tucker watched as Danny Phantom sluggishly drifted intangibly through his window, unceremoniously tossed the thermos on his nightstand, dropped face down onto his mattress, and transformed back into Danny Fenton. A soft groan stifled by his pillow began emanating from the boy.

"That had to be like the dozenth one now…"

With a press of his stylus and a single glance towards the screen of his PDA, "actually, the twelfth one was Desiree. This makes the fifteenth fight today," Tucker stated.

"Wasn't Desiree the fifth one I fought?"

"No, the fifth fight was just a pack of ectopi."

"I thought the ectopi was the third one."

"No, Technus was third."

"But I just fought him off like two hours ago!"

"You did." Tucker looked at him straight in the eyes, "he came back after you released him into the Ghost Zone after that first fight with him."

Danny lifted his head up to release a cry containing all his frustration and fatigue, and then just plopped it back down immediately after.

Sam got up from her spot by the window where she waited for Danny's return. "Who was it this time?" She gently stroked his black hair in a soothing manner.

Danny hummed at the comforting touch. "Youngblood…"

Beeping could be heard within the confines of the room as Tucker began recording the attack in great detail on his device. The female group member continued to appease her boyfriend while asking questions about the attack. Where it took place, how long it lasted, amount of collateral damage, if others joined the fight, etc.

"I'm going to go ahead and finish dying now." The words could just barely be made out from the muffling of his pillow.

Sam rolled her eyes. "And what about me then? While I am your girlfriend–"

"And she may be goth," Tucker interjected, "but even I doubt she'd resort to necrophili– ah!" He immediately leaned to his side, hugging his PDA closely to his chest. There was a clanking of metal hitting against the room wall as complaints rang out from the occupants of the now fallen Fenton Thermos that Sam had aimed at his head.

The exhausted teen just continued to ignore the commentary. "Just make my bed my grave," he stated, "we can have the bedpost be the tombstone and have it say 'Danny Fenton sleeps here.'" This statement earned a guffaw from Tucker.

"That would make a pretty interesting gothic bedpost," Sam added on.

Danny lifted his head again to scream aloud. "How am I supposed to sleep, let alone study for my exams, if pretty much every ghost I know – and twice as many I don't – keep coming after me?!"

"It's not you they're after, Danny." Sam opened the drawer of his nightstand and sifted through it. "It's this piece of paper the Box Ghost exclaimed about," she stated as she pulled out and presented the document they recovered from the Ghost Zone yesterday. "Whatever it is, it must be pretty valuable for so many ghosts to come after us just the day after we found it."

The half-ghost teen shifted his head to glance at the source of his suffering. "How's the investigation on that thing going?"

Sam shook her head. "Nothing. I searched every book and website that could have any relevant information on it. This thing is either something totally unheard of or just that ancient."

"Clearly not unheard of in the Ghost Zone though," Danny mumbled. "What about you, Tuck?"

The technology genius of the trio looked down towards his PDA. "From what I can tell – it is as ancient as it looks. I tried running a visual scan. Those aren't just random doodles or some sort of encryption, we're looking at some form or variation of pictographs."

Eyebrows raised at the statement. "You mean, like prehistoric times? With cavemen?" The ghost boy was barely processing any of the information given to him, his body screaming at him to fall asleep.

"Doubtful. Paper wasn't exactly a thing until at least a few thousand years ago," Sam stated.

"Based on the material that it's made of, and the state it's in…My best estimate," Tucker tapped on his screen, "we're looking at something that's at least in B.C. eras." Tucker refrained from elaborating further on his knowledge of the paper, suppressing a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, a certain sense of familiarity with the what few identifiable scripts there were. For now, he could understand the information on that page just as well as the others. "Everything is so worn out and faded, I'm not sure even a high-resolution terahertz reflective imaging and image restoration would get us much results."

The two looked back down at the sound of Danny groaning.

Danny pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, opening it in front of him. He started scrolling through his list of contacts.

When Tucker looked over his friend's shoulder he gave a puzzled look at the contact Danny stopped and selected. "Who the heck is 'The Wurdulac?'"

"It was Sam's idea." Danny pointed towards said girl.

The female goth gave a grin at being given the credit. "It's suites him perfectly!"

Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Tucker pulled up his trusty personal device and looked up the term. He managed to find the definition on the first search. Rereading the description a couple times and then mouthing an "oh," he nodded his head in understanding. "Only you would find or come up with something like this."

Danny pressed his phone to his ear. "Hey, do you have some spare time, Vlad?"

* * *

"So, you managed to find a few recruits this time." Aragon stated on his throne. "Well, that's some progress…Why the sudden change though?"

The two subjects, kneeling just like the day before, looked towards each other in silent communication. Then the Archer Ghost spoke for each other. "Most of the Ghost Zone has its attention on a certain rumor going about at the moment."

"Rumor?"

"Aye," the Archer Ghost confirmed.

Aragon gave in to his curiosity. "What of?"

The archer turned to the axe barer, passing on his turn to speak. "There are rumors floating about that the halfa, Phantom, has obtained a page of the journal from the legends."

"Journal?" The prince looked confused for a moment, churning over his memories. Over the many years of his existence, he had been exposed to many forms of old literature. But no particular form of writing stuck out to him, especially not a journal. After all, why should he care about the matters of some lesser beings. The only one that came to mind with the mention of the term "journal" and "legends" would be…

His eyes widened. "Are you referring to _that_ journal?" he inquired as he leaned forward. "The rumored journal that leads to the Elsewhereness? Sojourn's journal?"

The ghost nodded. "Aye."

Aragon leaned back against his chair. As the gears turned in his mind, his smile only grew, revealing very sharp fangs and a glint in his eyes. "I could use this…"

* * *

Without any regard for etiquette, Danny barged straight through the mahogany door and into Vlad's office. The light of the afternoon sun illuminated the room through its only window. There, as he expected, was Vlad, hidden behind a stack of papers reaching just below his head. The billionaire business man was scribbling away with what very little remaining vigor he had left. His hand didn't stop moving until Danny semi-slammed the door shut.

When Vlad looked up from his paperwork, he sighed in apparent relief, and shifted the stack of papers a little to the side to make some desk space. "Hello, Daniel," he greeted the teen while taking his cup of earl gray tea on his desk into his hands. "Now, what is causing you so much trouble that you requested for my assistance during the middle of my work?"

Vlad was smiling as he spoke. He was more than relieved upon getting that phone call. The elder halfa had almost wished upon Desiree to be liberated, at least momentarily, of his duties as mayor of Amity Park. When Daniel contacted him, Vlad almost cheered aloud.

A faint click sounded behind Danny as he locked the door to ensure no regular personnel overheard their conversation. "I want you to take a look at something," he demanded.

Vlad rested his elbow against his desk and his head on his hand. "Does it have anything to do with the sudden inflation of ghost attacks since yesterday?" he asked as the youth treaded closer to his desk across the room.

"Pretty much," Danny confirmed.

Vlad exhaled a sigh. "Well then, what did you do this time?"

Danny halted, acting mildly offended. "Why do you automatically assume that it's my fault?" Vlad was somewhat relieved, hearing him retort back like that. The teen seemed to have recovered somewhat compared to how Vlad saw him on the news report yesterday.

"Daniel, please. Let's face facts here – every time something happens, you're normally somehow involved. And usually the one that instigates the event, if I might add."

"Oh, come on!" he raised his arms widely. "I'm not the one who starts them; I just get dragged into them. Name one incident where I started it."

"Do you want the list in alphabetical or chronological order?" Vlad deadpanned.

Danny just glared in a sulking manner. "Whatever," he said as he raised his hands in defeat, dropping this topic for the one he originally came here for. He pulled out the paper, "do you know what this is?" and placed it in front of Vlad on the desk.

Vlad took another sip of his tea. He scanned his eyes over the page – before promptly spit taking and spraying his beverage right on Danny's face, panic stricken. Without wasting another second, he ducked down and slapped his hand on a large green button underneath his desk. Immediately after the button was pressed, a ghost shield erupted around the building. Somehow, Vlad still had the sensibility to set his cup and plate down without shattering them before reaching for the button. He covered his mouth with his hand when he realized what he did to the guest in front of him.

For an indefinite amount of time, the only sound in the room was the dripping of tea falling off Danny's face and onto Vlad's desk. Vlad still looked unnerved. And Danny still needed a moment to process what the heck just happened.

"I'm guessing that's a yes," Danny stated as he turned himself intangible. He watched the liquid phase right through him, the burgundy rug darkened from soaking up the tea. "Seriously, Vlad? Was activating the city hall emergency ghost shield really necessary?"

However, the ghost teen was startled as Vlad suddenly reached over his desk, gripped his shoulders firmly, and looked him straight in the eyes. "Daniel, listen to me. No matter what, keep that thing hidden at all costs. The attacks will _never_ end anytime soon if you keep flaunting that thing like your parents do with their inventions!" Vlad twisted him around. He didn't even take the time to walk around his desk, phasing right through it as he pushed the confused boy out of the office.

Danny had to take a moment to relate the comparison. He wasn't exactly _flaunting_ the thing. Heck, the only one who saw him with it was the Box Ghost…oh. Yeah. With that loud mouth of his things were never going to stay quiet. "Hm? Wait, Vlad. You still didn't tell me so special abou-"

Vlad had already slammed his office door closed. The anti-ecto barrier surrounding city hall remained activated for the rest of the day.

* * *

 **A/N: It's a lot less cliché than using "Dracula." I mean, his first name is Russian after all. And there's also the whole trying to convert Danny thing they had in the past.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Don't like, don't read.**

* * *

"Go faster!" Tucker yelled as he gripped the two sides of his passenger seat of the Specter Speeder. He watched the blurring ethereal green of the Ghost Zone as the team rocketed through it at a speed of at least a hundred miles per hour.

Sam didn't take her eyes off the flight path in front of her. "Don't you think I would've done that by now if I could?"

Baby blue eyes peaked through the back window. They widened at the sight of the growing hoard of ghosts, steadily getting closer to the speeder. "This is what I get for taking out the Specter Speeder before mom and dad finished their modifications to it." Danny yelped as he was sent tumbling to his side, smashing against the metallic wall as Sam made a hard swerve to the left, and then inelegantly tumbling back onto the floor as the speeder stabilized again.

Purple eyes glanced down every so often on tip of the steering handle, which hid a small green button. "Can't we just jet away, Tucker?"

"Only if you're willing to risk that twenty percent chance of it blowing up, since nothing's been tested or calibrated yet."

Danny shook his head, then gripped it, waiting for the dizziness to fade. "And knowing my parents, you have to add an extra fifty percent chance of either the wiring being wrong somewhere or some bolt being loose." At least he still had the energy to quip.

"Well we better do something, because they're gaining on us!" Tucker responded.

"And I don't think Frostbite will appreciate the unannounced visit with these dozens of uninvited guests," Sam added.

Danny tried to stand up, getting into a crouching position, only for the vehicle to veer harshly to the side again. Black bangs flopped over his eyes as he landed painfully on the metal plating again. "Ok, I've had it." One bright flash later, and toxic green eyes baring a great deal of irritation looked towards the wall of the vehicle. Danny stood up and slapped a white gloved hand against it.

Soon after, the stampeding mass of ectoplasm slowed down and stopped after witnessing the bucket of bolts vanish. Ghosts were no stranger to the practice of invisibility. And most of them decided to give up pretty quickly, while some stubbornly continued to try searching the vicinity or continue in the direction they were going before.

The trio sighed in relief, slowing down the vehicle as they got further away from the hoard.

"…I think I'll keep up the invisibility until we get to Frostbite's."

Two murmurs of agreement rang from the front.

* * *

"Great One!" Frostbite exclaimed as he greeted Danny, Sam, and Tucker at the door of the Specter Speeder.

Danny couldn't help but smile at the liveliness of the yeti ghost. "Hey, Frostbite." He was quickly met with a grand bear hug, the fur and ice arms crushing his spine. The teen could swear he heard something crack.

The door of the Specter Speeder closed shut as Sam and Tucker exited. Both of them were wearing the jackets baring the flaming green Fenton logo on the chest that were stored in the speeder. "Hey, Frostbite," they both greeted.

"It is wonderful to see you all again," Frostbite grinned. "To what do I owe the pleasure for your unannounced visit to the Realm of the Far Frozen, Great One?" The leader of the snow and ice filled land asked as he placed the boy gently down.

Danny sighed, facing the snow-covered ground. "We were hoping you could give us some advice or information."

Sensing the slight nervousness and annoyance in his voice, Frostbite's expression morphed into one of concern. Without another word, the ghost nodded. He waved for them to follow. Along the way, more denizens of the Far Frozen greeted the trio with waves, smiles, and some salutes. Danny, Sam, and Tucker waved back with noticeably less vigor. Frostbite ushered them into the familiar cave the team first had entered when they met Frostbite.

"Now, what could be troubling you? And how may I be of assistance?" He rested his hand against his chest, almost bowing down and kneeling before Danny.

Sam slipped off the black straps of her purple backpack from her shoulders to search through its contents. "Hold on, I've got it."

"We found this by accident in the Ghost Zone a couple days ago," Danny explained as Sam pulled out the paper and passed it to him. He held up the paper to present to Frostbite. "Ever since, ghosts have been attacking me all day."

Yellow eyes widened upon seeing the page. The face of worry turned into that of understanding. "I see." Frostbite motioned with his ice and bone hand that he didn't need another look.

"You know what this is?" Danny asked, hoping so.

Frostbite smiled. "Indeed," he confirmed. "You are quite fortunate to come across such a rare article."

"Fortunate? How is finding an unreadable piece of paper that makes pretty much every ghost in the Ghost Zone come after me 'fortunate?'" Danny was barely holding back a scream of disbelief, the icebound walls almost echoing every syllable.

"We arrived here just after escaping an entire pack of ghosts hounding us!" Tucker exclaimed.

Frostbite laughed, like he expected such a result. The fang filled grin didn't fade, instead that spark of experience and knowledge could be seen in his eyes. "Have you ever heard of a certain place referred to as 'Elsewhereness?'" Three heads shook "no" in unison, as he suspected. He treaded further into the depths of the cave, as the trio followed closely behind. "As you are aware, the Ghost Zone has entrances to essentially an infinite number of realms."

The teens nodded their heads, remembering this discussion. A certain sense of nostalgia washed over the three as they remembered the first time they met Frostbite.

"And among the many locations accessible through the Ghost Zone," Frostbite continued, "there is one known as Elsewhereness. A place said to be without any fear, pain, or misery. A paradise of sorts."

"That sounds like heaven," Danny commented. Sam and Tucker were nodding in agreement.

Frostbite was doing the same. "A common reference name by those of certain philosophies. Every ghost desires to be there, but none know where it is, except," he stopped walking and held a finger up, "Sojourn," and pointed towards the drawing on the cave wall beside them.

There on the cold hard wall, was an etching of a bald, cloaked figure flying in a vague vast swirling vortex of a world, which was most likely the depiction of the Ghost Zone. In the figure's arm appeared to be a book, revealed below the fluttering mantle. Accessories on the arm and cloak adorned the being. The entity seemed serious, or rather expressionless.

"Sojourn?" Danny repeated.

Sam looked down from Frostbite to her companions. "Wasn't that the name the Box Ghost said?" Tucker nodded, remembering the scene from behind the windshield of the Specter Speeder.

"I remember him saying it was that ghost's journal page," Tucker added.

"Correct!" Frostbite's voice boomed. "And due to an unknown event, the journal was lost, its pages scattered and drifting throughout the Ghost Zone. What you have stumbled upon is none other than one of the pages of that very journal."

Vibrant green eyes filled with curiosity looked down at the paper. "I'm starting to get an idea of why this thing is so special, but I'll ask anyways. Why does every ghost want this?"

"As I have stated, according to the legend, Sojourn is the only being to have located Elsewhereness. Sojourn was a nomadic ghost that was said to have explored and catalogued every single expanse of the Ghost Zone," Frostbite pointed towards the page in Danny's hands, "and supposedly documented all of his finding within his journal."

Three pairs of eyes stared in increased fascination at the item in Danny's hands. Frostbite continued his explanation. "According to the lore, Sojourn's journal pages will lead to Elsewhereness."

"So, it's like a treasure map?" Danny mumbled. But Frostbite heard the question and nodded.

Sam's look of interest suddenly turned into one of confusion and curiosity. The female raised a brow. "Wait a minute," her two partners looked up from the page to her, "so the journal is pretty much a map, or more like an atlas of the Ghost Zone?"

"That is one way of looking at is, yes."

Danny and Tucker's eyebrows quickly shot up, realizing the connection their female comrade was making.

"Then, what about the Infi-map?" she asked. "Isn't that supposed to be some sort of legendary artifact that leads a person to their destination?"

Frostbite looked at her, understanding the potential link she was making as well. "Are you suggesting that Sojourn has a certain association with the Infi-map?" Sam nodded. "Your speculation is completely reasonable," the ice based ghost stated.

"If the journal that supposedly guides people through the entire Ghost Zone was written by Sojourn, is it possible that the map that leads people anywhere was created by the same ghost?" All eyes fell on Frostbite at the inquiry.

The yeti ghost being addressed pressed his fingers against his chin, giving a pondering expression. He seemed rather troubled, unsure of how to answer, the team assumed. "I'm afraid I cannot give you an answer to that question right now." He gave an apologetic smile.

Tucker turned to Sam. "Actually, how do we know instead of creating it, he used it to travel the Ghost Zone?" He then looked between Danny and Sam. "The Ghost Zone is massive. There's no reason for him to not use it as a tool to help him explore the zone himself. It would be more efficient than traveling himself."

"But that doesn't really make sense to me," Sam said. "That sounds contradictory, because if he had the map then there was no reason to supposedly map out the entire zone to begin with."

"Yeah, but the Infi-map could have existed before Sojourn had, for all we know." Tucker looked up towards Frostbite to respond to the discussion.

"We of the Far Frozen, have guarded the Infi-map for millennia," Frostbite stated. "As far as I can tell you, the two legends regarding the map and journal arose about equivalently from thousands of years ago."

"Well, that about narrows it down from Roman Empire," Sam started.

"To ancient Chinese dynasties," Tucker interjected.

"And everything in between," Danny finished.

The host chuckled at their interaction. "That is why it is called a legend," he stated, his hearty laugh bouncing off the rock walls of the cave.

"Ugh," the trio's leader groaned, "and now everyone's coming after me because of this legend." His glowing green eyes glared at the paper with a silent ire of annoyance.

Sam patted the complaining teen's back. "Think of it this way, Danny," she got a look just said "that this sucks?" which amused her. "School's almost over. So, we'll have way more time to focus on ghost fighting after exams."

"Yeah," Tucker joined in as he leaned over Danny's other side and wrapped an arm around him. "We could even go somewhere away from Amity Park for the summer and let them get bored of searching for us there."

Danny paused at Tucker's suggestion. And then his eyes widened, a grin spread on his face. There was that glimmer of childish delight along with anticipation that Sam and Tucker immediately recognized. He began bouncing on his heels, like the first sign from last Halloween when his friends made the mistake of allowing him to binge on the candy from the holiday party. "Guys, guys, guys. Let's do that."

Sam and Tucker were a little concerned at the sudden surge of energy in him. They both placed a hand on one of the bouncing teen's shoulders, pushing him down to keep him grounded.

"Go out of the city?" Sam asked.

"Summer vacation!" Danny yelled, making his two best friends jump, and even Frostbite flinch a little. "Let's explore the Ghost Zone! Collect the pages!"

"Again?" Tucker gave a befuddled look. "Danny, we always get lost trying to find our way back when we go off our designated routes in the Ghost Zone."

The female voice of reason on the team was also having trouble following what was going on in the ghost boy's head. "And as I recall, the last time we got completely and utterly lost in the Ghost Zone, we ended up going on a transtemporal chase for the Infi-map by Plasmius." She gave a raised brow. "Now, every ghost in the Ghost Zone is chasing us."

Danny gave them his quirky grin. "But where would most of the ghosts think to search for me? Amity, or here in their own home?"

Tucker glanced towards Sam, who returned the same thoughtful look. "He's got a point there."

"But where would we start? We don't have any clue on how to read this thing." Sam stated.

"We don't have to rely on the map. We can just keep going in some direction from a landmark we know." The now incredibly excited ghost teen floated above their heads, flailing his arms, and leaning down towards his partners. "It'll be a fun summer adventure. We'll visit a new place each time, and if we come across any more pages, we'll let that be our next destination. It'll also be an opportunity to map out the Ghost Zone further than what we've already got."

Sam put her hands to her hips. "We still can't just wonder around with no aim in mind. That's how we get lost in the first place. We could end up stranded in some cave, or eaten by it."

"Or," the glint in the boy's eyes didn't fade in the slightest, "we could end up in some cool new island realm of sorts, or even a cool temple with ancient hieroglyphics and other legendary artifacts. And if the pages are so rare, maybe it's because ghosts are only searching places that are more commonly visited – places already searched. Maybe we'll find another ourselves."

Tortoise eyes widened as Tucker muttered to himself, "hieroglyphics?" He gaped like a fish for a moment, earning some mildly concerned looks from the other three. "I'm an idiot!" he screamed as he gripped the sides of his beret. He pulled out his PDA from his pants pocket and tapped furiously on the screen. Under his breath, Danny and Sam could hear him cursing his incompetence.

"Um…Tucker?"

"You okay?"

"That's why the scripts looked so familiar! It was written in fucking Egyptian hieroglyphics!"

Green and purple eyes widened in surprise at the outburst. "And you can tell, how?" Sam asked.

The technology geek looked up with a deadpan expression. "You learn a few things when you're possessed by the powers of an ancient Egyptian scepter that belonged to a pharaoh that has your face." He looked back towards the screen, tapping away without restraint, mumbling to himself.

Danny was still confused though. "How come you didn't recognize it sooner, Tuck?"

"Two reasons, Danny. Other than the fact that it was old and faded." Two fingers were held up briefly in the air before returning to the metal casing of the PDA. "One, things change over time." The technology wiz didn't look up from his PDA. "That includes language. The hieroglyphics were eventually simplified as time went on. Hotep Ra was probably from around that time period.

"And two, it came from a handwritten journal; it was probably a personal item. So the writer probably didn't choose to care about it being readable to others." Tucker's voice began to fade until he was just mumbling to himself, his concentration fully on the device he was working on. "Now if I could just get a little more out of the image restoration…"

The teen couple shared a look. "Well," Danny started, "looks like we've got our lead." Sam nodded in return.

"I'm such an idiot!"

"Tell us something we don't already know, Tucker," Sam retorted with a straight face. She didn't care if he heard her or not though.

"Wait, if the genius on our team is an idiot, then what am I?" Danny asked, looking towards her, curious of her response.

"Still clueless." The teen's girlfriend didn't hesitate in answering.

Frostbite, who was still watching over the excited teens, smiled warmly in contrast to the cold and harsh environment around them.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy shit, having some free time is a wonderful feeling.**


	5. Chapter 4

**No time, no life. Ugh…**

* * *

When the Red Huntress made her first appearance, it was quite apparent she was holding some sort of grudge against ghosts. Unlike most alleged ghost hunters, she had no interest in learning about ghosts via experimentation or observation. She went after ghosts with a passion. Her weapons speaking for her.

So, when people saw her appearing to be having a lighthearted chat with Danny Phantom without even a barrel aimed at his ethereal body, many were left confused for the next few days. Their interaction seemed so natural, like they had been friends for quite a while. The transition of her attitude towards ghosts was just so sudden.

Regardless, it's become just as entertaining to watch the female ghost hunter fight as it is watching Danny Phantom.

"For the _last_ _time_ ," everyone could hear the whirring of the gun, "Phantom ain't here!" A screech as the shot landed on the fleeing ghost's back and the blob of ectoplasm collapsed on the four-story building roof.

The other ghost looked between his downed companion and back towards the gun being aimed at him.

"And even if he was," her heel tapped down on her board, "neither he," a slot opened below, "nor I," revealing a new cannon like weapon, "have time to deal with you!"

Even with the red visor blocking the huntress' eyes, it could feel the unusually strong burning fury of her glare.

"Cause unlike you ghosts," she cocked her bazooka towards the specter's head, "we have things to do other than sending your sorry ectoplasmic hides back into the Ghost Zone!" Whirring sounds grew again from the weapon in her hands and on her hoverboard. She _really_ wasn't going to be taking any of their shit right now.

The ghost fled.

"Get back here!" Citizens watched from below as the Red Huntress became a red and black blur above them, clearly going after the ghost. Her shrieks filled with frustration and aggravation could be heard as she pursued her target halfway across the city.

"And when that boy does get back, _I'm_ going to be the one to kick his sorry ass for leaving me to deal with all of you!"

* * *

"…Lipstick blaster."

"Check," Danny stated as he held up one in his hand. In response, Tucker tapped and checked the checkbox on his PDA screen.

"Wrist rays."

Sam didn't say anything. Instead, she proudly held up her right wrist, revealing the simple but effective accessory. This weapon still remained as one of her favorites. There was another beep as the male seated on Danny's desk chair tapped on his device screen.

"Fenton Phones?"

"Check," three harmonious voices said. The dating duo pulled out multiple sets of the mentioned device from their pockets. Some were backups. The teen listing out the gadgets also pulled out his own pair, before putting them back in his pants pocket and checking the list.

"Fenton Foamer." The darker skinned male glanced up towards Danny.

The owner of the room dully walked over to the side of his bed and ducked down to reach underneath. A moment later, the teen pull out a cylindrical weapon that was at least twice the thickness of his arms. Danny looked at his friends with an eyebrow raised as he heaved the piece of machinery over his shoulder.

Tucker looked back down and tapped with his stylus. "Check." He scrolled down again. "Bazooka."

Both he and Sam jumped a little as Danny tactlessly dropped the weapon in his arms onto the floor in the center of his room. The floor vibrated a little in response to the impact. They watched as the son of town ghost hunters rolled his eyes and then sluggishly made his way into his closet. For a brief moment, all they heard was the sound of clattering as Danny searched through it. And when the boy returned, he was wielding two incredibly large firearms, one under his arm and another slung over his back. Danny tossed them next to the foamer. "That one's a normal ecto-bazooka," he pointed towards one, "and that one's the Fenton Bazooka," he pointed to the other.

"That would be a 'check.'" Sam stated pointlessly at the impressive display.

Tucker tapped the screen again. "Oh, I accidentally skipped the normal ecto-guns."

Danny noticeably huffed a sigh. The teen walked back to his bed and slipped a hand under his pillow while having another hand open and reach into his nightstand drawer. He gave them a blank look as he pulled out two silver and green handguns.

The two other teens just looked blankly in unspoken surprise. "Okay…let's see…" Tucker looked down to check what remains on the list.

But before the geek could even name what was next, Danny stomped over to the wall that divided his room from his sisters. He turned his arm transparent as he activated his intangibility and reached through the wall. After a moment of searching, the noticeably irritated teen pulled out more various gadgets, which ended up also being tossed onto the floor in front of the guests.

His two best friends just blinked. "I don't remember you being this prepared for ghost fighting," Sam stated. She continued to watch her paranoid boyfriend pull out more devices from his wall.

Danny grunted. "I didn't used to have this much until that journal page floated into my afterlife and brought the entire Ghost Zone with it." He pulled out another random tool his parents created.

"Well," Tucker said, "looks like we'll have all the gear we need then."

"Did I forget to mention that I also rigged the Fenton Finder with one of the homing missile launchers?" Danny received two looks of amazement. "At first, I had it equipped to my alarm clock, but I started sleeping through that too. Good thing my parents reinforced the house. The explosions actually make a decent alarm." The looks of surprise morphed into ones of mild concern.

"…" Sam and Tucker weren't really sure of what to say to that. They watched as Danny continued pulling out more gadgets and tossing them onto the growing pile.

The goth and geek needed a moment to think on how to respond, and as they opened their mouths, the bedroom door slammed open. "Danny!" Jazz had burst into the room. If not for the special reinforcements made to the house, there would have been a hole, or at least a dent that was the shape of a doorknob decorating the room wall now.

Said teenage boy promptly discarded his irritated demeanor. "Hi Jazz!" Danny greeted as he waved towards his sister with another gadget occupying his hand. "Welcome back. How was your trip?" He gave a cheeky grin.

Jazz returned the question with a low growl, slammed the door shut behind her, and steadily made her way towards her little brother. Her appearance made her seem even more infuriated, her red locks sticking up and out wildly, as they haven't been taken care of yet immediately after the adrenaline rush that is their father's driving. "I can't believe you sent mom and dad to my college campus on a wild ghost chase."

Sam crossed her arms and remarked, "I can."

The red head ignored the commentary, and the spectators in the room. "It's one thing for mom and dad to be viewed as total crackpots to the entire world. We're already used to that." Tucker and Sam nodded to the statement. Amity Park thought the same for a solid number of months even after all the supernatural activities that had been occurring. "But to have them almost turning my entire college campus upside down for a nonexistent ghost–"

"Danny!" Everyone in the room jumped at the even louder call for the teen halfa's name. This time it was Valerie, who appeared to have just returned from her job at the Nasty Burger, seeing as she was still in her uniform and somewhat out of breath. "We need to talk about the increase of ghost attacks and– am I interrupting something?" The huntress received a "not really" from Tucker and Sam, which she raised an eyebrow to because of the sight of a rather excessively large pile of ecto-weaponry lying on the floor.

"Hey, Val!" Danny called and waved with the same mock peppy tone he greeted his sister with. "No, we were just–"

"What's this about an increase in ghost attacks?" Maddie asked loudly after popping her head in the room and sprinting up the stairs at hearing Valerie's statement. Her voice was a mix between curiosity and concern. She leaned further into the room.

"There's more ghosts to hunt now? Is that what I hear?" Jack, almost just as quickly appeared behind his wife in excitement.

Valerie backed away a little from the couple and closer into the room, putting some more space between her and the eager ghost hunting pair.

"Yep." All heads turned to Danny, a mix of surprise, curiosity, and eagerness. "It started a few days after you left. There've suddenly been more ghost attacks for days and they haven't really been letting up since." His expression was completely unreadable as he pointed towards his bedroom window with his thumb. "If you go now, you'll probably catch a few."

There was just a brief pause of silence in the house. "Let's go, Mads! No number of ghost attacks will stop Jack Fenton from protecting this fair city!" Jack's voice then boomed throughout the building. The man giddily dashed out the entranceway of the bedroom and down the stairs for the laboratory. His wife watched from above as after a momentary clanking of metal from searching through the lab, he returned to the living room with a bundle of weapons on him. "We'll catch those spooks in no time!" he declared as he bounded his way to the Fenton RV.

"Bye, kids. Stay safe now," Maddie waved the teens goodbye as she rushed down the stairs. She pulled her hood and goggles down and closed the front door shut.

Four heads turned back to Danny. "Nicely done, Danny," Tucker complemented. "Only three sentences and that pretty much keeps your parents distracted for the next couple days."

Danny smirked, "couple days? They'll be out driving all around the city every day for ghosts for at least the next week. And the ghosts will be mindlessly searching for me while we're in the Ghost Zone."

Jazz jolted at that statement. "Wait, you'll be in the Ghost Zone? What?"

Valerie was just as confused. "Okay, I clearly am missing something here," she stated as she rested a hand on her hip, waiting for an explanation.

The glint of childish excitement returned to Danny's blue eyes. "Okay, so it was last Friday when Sam, Tucker and I decided to go into the Ghost Zone – because we were bored – and…"

* * *

Behind its usual veil of eerie silence and garbled screeches, whispers could be heard within the Ghost Zone.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"…Sojourn…page."

"…Aragon…"

"…Elsewhereness…"

* * *

A blast followed closely by a shriek could be heard emanating from the Fenton Works upper floor window. Not many pedestrians nearby were really phased by the sound. They were already used to things like that, what with all the shenanigans being pulled in that building.

In Danny's bedroom, the ebony haired ghost teen was crouching with his hands over his head. There was a wisp of smoke rising from the wall that was literally inches from where his head initially was. Jazz tried to comfort Valerie, trying to get the very peeved huntress to ease her grip on the ecto-gun.

"Please resist from blasting Danny any more if at all possible," Sam said with a straight face. "I prefer my boyfriend uncharred. And he's already on the extra crispy spectrum."

Said boyfriend held a finger up. "No, I'm just crispy. But memory serves that being fried with millions of volts a second time hurts just as much as the first," Danny declared as he rose from his crouching position.

Valerie dropped the arm holding the ecto-gun. "You left me to take care of all the ghosts invading Amity Park for the past few days, while I still have to study before finals and go to my job in the Nasty Burger, so you could prepare for a group suicide summer adventure in the Ghost Zone?"

"You could come with us," Danny offered.

Just as Valerie raised her arm again, about to reject with another shot which Danny reacted to by ducking again, Jazz jumped in. "Yeah. We could all go as a team together," the eldest among the teens stated in apparent enthusiasm.

"Wait," Danny blinked, looking somewhat surprised, and pointed to Jazz, "you're coming along?"

"It's summer break, of course I'm going to spend it together with my little brother. I had every intention of doing so," she responded cheerfully. She reached a hand out and ruffled his hair. Danny smiled at the intimate gesture and allowed her to proceed with messing up his black locks. Being separated for months really made the feeling even more nostalgic. Jazz stopped after a few strokes. "I'll go finish unpacking and prep my gear," she said before retreating to her bedroom next door.

The huntress dropped the raised arm as Jazz left, and then scrunched her brows. "And what about the town? You can't expect me to take care of all the ghosts by myself any more than this." Not only did Valerie still have work over the summer, she still had a life to maintain after all.

"Don't worry, Val. Mom and dad are back now, so they can at least serve as a decent distraction for the ghosts. And Vlad can help too from time to time."

"And since when did Vlad agree to any of that?" Sam asked as she crossed her arms and raised a brow. "I thought we hadn't heard from him ever since he kicked you out of his office last time."

Danny just waved it off. "It's fine. He's probably too busy to argue about it now. Besides, he has duplicates too."

Valerie scowled a little, but the others in the room could see the brief moment of enmity that surfaced. Though majority of the team were more or less at least on civil terms with Vlad, being tricked and manipulated for months like she was could take some getting over.

"The girl can hold a grudge," according to Danny. And Vlad was aware of this. Which is why over the last year, even after the truce, the two rarely interacted, and even when they did it was short. The man had decided the best course of action wasn't to actively make it up to her, but let her settle into working with Danny.

"I'm not sure even with the two of us, plus your parents, would be enough," the girl stated. Even she knew how busy Vlad's been as mayor recently.

"Tucker can help you guys manage." Danny turned to the team technician. "Right, Tucker?"

Tucker pulled out his stylus that was inserted in his PDA. "Sure, I can easily just sync and set up your schedules to maximize your guys' time. You'll still have time to work your shifts at the Nasty Burger and to socialize, and Vlad will still manage his duties as mayor and care for his cat or whatever he does on his free time." Rhythmic tapping and beeping could be heard as he worked on the device. "This simple program will do all the scheduling for you two. I'll have your schedules linked to my PDA so I can adjust things manually if needed. You'll have the application uploaded to your phone. It readjusts your schedules according to any changes and notifies the other. Notifications will also be sent to Vlad's secretary for any of his conflicting appointments that need to be rescheduled."

Valerie huffed a sigh. "Fine, as long as you're taking care of the ghosts in the city when you're back. But it's still a stupidly suicidal vacation plan."

"You're exaggerating." Danny responded. "We're not going to be in the Ghost Zone 24/7, just most of the day. We're just going to take a peek here and there in a new part of the Ghost Zone each day. It'll be more like a tour, with several trips everywhere. Besides, excluding my parents, there's no way we could keep our disappearances a secret from Sam's and Tucker's parents for all summer, even with Vlad covering for us. It's not as reckless as it sounds."

"We're going on full-blown explorations into potentially some of the deepest regions of a realm teeming with the spirits of the dead," Sam stated.

"That sounds about as suicidal as it gets," Tucker said.

Danny turned to the two commenters. "Come on, guys. No time for regrets!" The teen halfa grinned. "You only live once and die twice! Maybe three times if you're lucky."

* * *

 **A/N: I have decided to give a disclaimer. It feels like quite a few readers have certain expectations or predictions of how this story will go. Specifically, my depiction of Elsewhereness and/or Unworld. The probability of which seems unlikely to me right now.**

 **This is not going to be one of those convoluted hundred chapter stories that supposedly ends the entire series with closure. It was written to be like an episode or movie, like Reign Storm or Reality Trip. It's just one of the team's many misadventures.**

 **So, once again, don't like, don't read.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Wow. I'm alive…somehow. How long has it been?**

* * *

"Screw you, Mr. Carlton! Screw you and everything you stand for!" Tucker exploded. His shout echoed off the walls of the Fenton Works Lab. He was currently looking through all his exam results and final grades, released just this morning to the students. "This is bullshit! It was your own damn fault for switching between units on the fourth problem! Don't dock us points when so many of us didn't notice and fix _your_ mistake! Your typo!" Jazz firmly patted his shoulder in sympathy, nodding in understanding.

Sam and Danny simply rolled their eyes, mildly miffed but mostly amused as they listened to the geek's rant while shuffling some papers and weapons into the Specter Speeder. "I want my 4 points back!" Ah, typical geniuses.

"I'm using your computer!"

From the corner of her view Sam saw Tucker stomping over to the desktop he's modified and upgraded numerous times he's been here. Tucker connected his PDA to the computer with a USB cable. "No hacking our teacher's tech to make their summer miserable," she chided. Furious typing halted, before proceeding again with swift clicks.

"He will face retribution!"

Sam turned to Danny, giving him a look asking for his support. Danny just shrugged, "Tucker come on, it's officially summer vacation and we promised to keep the illegal activities to a minimum. That includes the hacking." Then he smirked, "Besides, next time Danny Phantom is in a fight he'll just accidentally crash into or ectoblast that new Lexus he bought last week."

Jazz just simply sighed at the remark. She was probably contemplating whether to give the chemistry teacher a warning of impending suffering.

"Alright, that should be it," Danny announced as he set down the last of the equipment into the back of the Specter Speeder.

On cue, Jazz and Sam filed through the door of the silver vehicle and seated themselves with Sam at the driver's seat. Tucker trudged begrudgingly in a few seconds after them, still fuming and muttering ideas of revenge under his breath. Danny immediately followed.

The engine hummed as Sam started it up, and the yellow and black striped gateway slid open, revealing the swirling green portal behind it. Just as it fully opened, the Specter Speeder swiftly glided through and the gate closed shut behind them just as quickly.

Within a couple hours of peaceful boredom (how they managed that was absolute pure luck), Sam's voice carried over to the back. "We're here," she announced. Her copilot leveled his PDA to take a picture through their windshield while the remaining two passengers moved up to the front for a view with anticipation, only to give a questioning look containing a hint of disappointment.

On a levitating island was simply a plain grey mountain occupying the entirety of the landscape – or rather, it was just a floating mountain making up the entirety of the landscape. Simple as that. Not an ominous cloud or mist in the vicinity nor any shrubbery to cover it. Other than the usual otherworldly glow that existed on everything else in the Ghost Zone, it looked to be a simple floating section of a mountain, plain and simple.

Sam slowly circled the Specter Speeder around the giant mound of rock. Everyone seemed to share similar thoughts and doubts, and thus said nothing and eyed the landscape with much scrutiny, looking for even a mark to signify the island.

After a couple more rounds, Danny finally broke the silence. He looked at Tucker, who sensed his gaze and returned the same face full of uncertainty as him. "Tucker, I give up. What are we looking for? I'm pretty certain that this Sojourn guy wouldn't document something as boring as just a single, giant rock." Danny waved his arms forward to specify their topic of doubt, in very minuscule hopes that what he is seeing isn't what the rest of them are seeing as well.

Tucker saved the pictures he'd taken. "Give me a sec." Various images were popping up and flying through on his PDA screen as he searched and skimmed among them. Jazz watched over Tucker's other shoulder her brother wasn't hovering over while Sam began slowing the speeder. "Okay, uh try under the island."

The Specter Speeder dipped downward as the team descended. As a shadow of the rough base loomed over, a large gaping hole appeared before the team. The opening surrounded by jagged stalagmites hovered over them like fangs. Everyone, save for Danny, shuddered a little at the sight. Instead, he was grinning very widely. His eyes darted at every crack or spike of rock, seeking out for any more noticeable details hidden among the rock. Tucker took another picture.

"Okay, that's more like," the teen stated in his rising anticipation. Danny reached over and shook Sam's shoulder lightly. "Up," he demanded with childlike impatience, which his partner promptly complied, probably letting her curiosity also get the better of her.

Jazz however, shook her head faintly. "Danny, I don't think we should just go into this blind."

"Well, we can't see anything from here anyways," Danny lightly countered. He tapped Sam on her shoulders, requesting her to continue forward.

The slow crawl of the Specter Speeder stopped abruptly when they realized what little light from the entrance could illuminate in front of them. Everything seemed to still. The silence was as intense as the darkness. Sam reached for a button on the dashboard, letting the brightness of the headlights be amplified in the pitch black of the cave engulfing them. Trust in Sam's wit, intuition, and simply her greater sense of caution than Danny currently to avoid driving blind and colliding into the rock wall apparently a half meter in front of them. She promptly backed them up a few meters.

Two cones of light roamed up and down along the unnaturally smooth walls as Sam spun the vehicle in full rotation. All along the walls were dozens of passageways randomly basically dotting all around the walls past the entranceway of the cave.

It was quiet and still. Jazz and Tucker couldn't contain the shiver that basically creeped down their spines, while Sam was on high alert, her left thumb hovering millimeters above the blaster button of the steering handle. Danny however was about to phase and fly right out in front of them.

"Pick a path already," the impatient boy demanded, hovering on his heels now.

Sam easily reached over her shoulder and pushed her palm against her boyfriend's face centimeters above her shoulder, not caring where her purple and supposedly weaponized fingernails may land on. The boys still and will forever refer to women's nails as claws. "Tucker never got any specific instructions about this place from his translations."

"Even if we knew which way we were going, I don't think we can Danny," Jazz announced, her gaze wandering all around through the round windshield. "None of the tunnel entrances look big enough to fit the Specter Speeder."

Electric green eyes rolled while Danny gave no regard to the supposed problem. Rings and flash of light later, "there," and he was back to human form, "now drive." Sam complied by accelerating towards the nearest tunnel in front of them

Perplexity at the response evident on her face, "uh," Jazz watched the speeder moving with less hesitation than ever since they reached the mountain, "how does tha – yah!" The siblings' heads jerked forward with their sternums jerkily pressing against the back of Sam and Tucker's seats. A grating sound of metal grinding against stone. "How was that supposed to help?" she amended.

There was a pause, as the trio all shared a look of total bewilderment.

Tucker then turned to look up and over his shoulder, "I'm sure we've mentioned before, but humans are the intangible ones here in the Ghost Zone." He felt Sam steadily back the vehicle.

"Yeah, but I've never witnessed it, so that theory of yours still never really made sense to me," she replied. "After all, if that were the case, shouldn't you guys have been slipping through the floors and off the islands here? Yet you guys said you even visited Frostbite at the Far Frozen recently. And then there was that time you told me about at the school camping trip where Walker had kidnapped the campers. You said they had managed to grab Sam and almost collar her at one point. That doesn't sound consistent to me."

Danny tapped Sam's shoulder with his index finger and pointed down in the direction of the opening of the mountain. There, the goth lowered the Specter Speeder to a relatively flat surface right by the entrance. The door slid open and everyone filed out. Well, everyone but Danny, who thought it was too slow and phased out as the door only just parted.

Jazz kneeled down and pressed her fingers firmly down on the rock floor beneath them. The team watched as she walked towards the wall closest to where they landed and did the same. Her hand didn't pass through. "Yeah, still not seeing it." She paused. "Or feeling it."

Six additional hands started mimicking her, pushing all around them on the walls, and gaining the same results. "Huh," Sam hummed more to herself than anyone.

"Okay, that's weird," Danny commented. "This normally works."

"Maybe your theory only works under certain conditions you don't know about?" His elder sister suggested.

"What other conditions could there possibly be?" He questioned with a raised brow. "Ghosts are ghosts in human realm, humans are ghosts in ghost realm. Simple as that."

"It's probably the matter of perception here." Everyone turned to Tucker, who was tapping away on his PDA again.

"Explanation please," Danny requested.

"Well, it's just a theory. Vlad said he never took the time to really investigate, only saying that it was an extra free getaway card in the Ghost Zone if he ever needed it."

Sam's expression of surprise quickly melted into one of curiosity. "Since when have you and Vlad been sharing theories about ghosts?"

"I don't know. For a while, I guess." Tucker shrugged. "I mean, we spend a decent bit more time together since he offered me that "internship" at Vladco with him as my supervisor. Which is actually pretty legit, since he lets me work in his actual lab a lot to show me some of his research and lets me pick and choose want I want to work on. That question must have come up at some point then – during my research."

"It's actually pretty cool of Vlad to do that for you," Danny commented.

"Well if you're not going to let me put my hacking skills and activities in my portfolio, then I might as well get some actual work experience to show off instead. Resumé boosters like those are a must for the better colleges." Jazz nodded her head to that comment.

"But anyway, back to Vlad's theory," jumping back on topic. "He said that it all comes down to a fundamental level of how a ghost's mentality interacts with everything else in the Ghost Zone. If we take Skulker as an example, nearly everything about him suits his obsession for hunting. His island, his distinct habits, his tricked-out suit in not just design but as a means to compensate for a body not suited for dominating his prey.

"One of the Ghost Zone's clearly most fundamental concept of reality can essentially be dumbed down to 'I think therefore I am.' As inaccurate as it is…"

Jazz nodded. "I think I see where this is going."

"Everything here is made of ectoplasm or ectoplasmic energy, which as we know isn't exactly corporeal. Ectoplasm is a very unique substance that has probably an excessive level of versatility. Just look at the various powers ghosts seem to have using their spectral energy. So, if everything is made of the same substance and uses the same source of power, what's different? Their personalities, mentality, their perception of the world. Their 'reality.'

"'The laws of reality there (here/Ghost Zone) are malleable in that if there is somehow either a consensus in perception – conscious or not – of the reality of an environment, that perception becomes the reality of that specific part of the environment. Thus, when enough ectoplasmic energy resonates with the ectoplasm, the environment of that realm alters its properties to perform the desired effects. Which is why each environment lead to by the realm doors is always unique in some way.' Is how I believe Vlad worded it. Now, if we think about the floors beneath us, that's what floors are, they're a lower surface on which one may walk. So, because there's an unconditional consensus that floors are something 'you should be able to walk on' then the nature of that reality applies."

Sam slid her hand down the rough surface of the rock wall, appreciating the rather natural feeling of bumps and cracks underneath her skin. "So then based on that theory, it means somehow either we along with other ghosts strongly subconsciously perceive every surface here as solid."

"Basically; the only exception to that would probably be certain ecto-powered tech like the Specter Deflector." Tucker paused. "And I think maybe that element Vlad mentioned, something he called ecto-ranium," that immediately raised some eyebrows, "but he said we probably wouldn't ever find much of the stuff anywhere near Earth anyway," the teen quickly appended.

Jazz pulled out and gripped firmly onto her Fenton Peeler, confirming the charge. "It's still weird for us to be perceiving every surface here as an equivalent to the floor or ground."

"Maybe we're associating the environment to something to physically interact with, since it feels like we're spelunking," Sam suggested.

"So…" Danny dragged out, "what I'm getting is that we can't cheat our way through here, can't fly through the tunnels," he stated giddily. Another flash of light later and he was floating again. The grin never fading with the light. "And since you said before that there were no detailed instructions on maneuvering this place, we get to do this the fun way!"

Tucker paused to roll his eyes before responding. "Yes, yes, and yes only if you replace 'fun' with 'hasty,' 'reckless,' or 'suicidal.'"

The ghost boy just raised his glowing hands and made a large ball of ecto-energy, illuminating a few solid meters around them in neon green. Danny spun a small circle before pointing a passageway facing the front left of the speeder they parked. "I pick that way!" He pointed to it.

Three additional beams of lights lit the path and footsteps thundered as Danny charged straight past them. There were shouts of "slow down" and "wait for us" echoing in the cave.

* * *

"You're certain of this?" Dora inquired with growing apprehension, twining her fingers together as if in prayer as she often does.

The subject before, dressed in the usual regal attire, kept his head bowed, also sharing a similar expression of unease. He confirmed with a nod. "The rumor is spreading fast, and is consistent with every word of mouth we've heard from. Your brother is finally showing significant activity."

"Has he possibly gotten worse?" The princess – but technically queen – rubbed her temples then eyes, exhaustion evident and growing. "I had hoped that instead of locking him away in confinement, as ironic as it would be and thus more appropriate, forcing him out of the realm would widen his perspective of the world. Or at least lessen his ridiculously archaic mentality." Her eyes grew distant for a moment, unfocused on the subject in front of her. "Hopefully at least his misogyny," she huffed. Dora pinched the medallion and looked down towards it, sliding a gentle finger across the gem. "Though, that still could have been partially his attempt at maintaining my sense of inferiority to him…keeping me unaware of basically everything I should know. I can't help but wonder what else he could have kept from me all these centuries."

Her servants that were within hearing range of her mutterings frowned slightly at the rather unpleasant reminder of their previous ruler. The subject still waiting patiently in front of Dora, had the least noticeable change in expression, if any.

"To think he made such a reckless move just to raise an army," the youthful royal ghost muttered more to herself. "It's careless and lacks any of his usual tact. What he's offering shouldn't be enticing enough to lure enough ghosts to wage a war. It–it's unreasonable! Impossible!" No one deemed it necessary to correct her from speaking in a volume that echoes her voice down many hallways of the castle.

She sighed and rested her elbow down on the arm of her chair, calming herself down. "It's reassuring to hear about this rumor early on. How many in our realm had heard the rumor from an outside source and how many already know?"

"Not many, your majesty," he replied promptly.

"For now, contain the spread of the rumor. I want you to watch the ones who know. Hopefully this is just paranoia speaking, but even though very few, there were those still loyal to him."

"It is already in progress."

Dora nodded, "well done." She waved her hand, making a "come closer" motion, towards the guard closest to her, a captain among the ranks. The soldier bowed before she gave the order. "Raise the security and defenses around the border of the realm and prepare for war. But be discreet." Without a word, the soldier saluted and floated through the chamber doors.

She looked back towards the subject standing firm before her. Still as can be. "I'm going to go ahead and assume you've already planted some of ours among them." The silence was all the confirmation she needed. "Continue as you deem fit," she ordered, making the unspoken request to be left alone to her end of the workload.

Another sigh and Dora pressed her back to the chair, letting the cushioning be some form of comfort and reassurance, reminding herself again that this was real, things have changed in these past couple years. This was no longer becoming a family squabble, this could mean full-scale war against her own brother. "Still though, Elsewhereness huh…Don't promise impossible things, brother."

Dora exhaled deeply once, twice, some attempt to force the rising fatigue away. There was just no point overthinking things right now. She waved over another servant towards her. "Call over the consultant."

* * *

"Well, that explains the picture of the spider."

"Really, Tucker? I never would have guessed," Sam remarked, as she took another shot with her wrist rays, at the giant, black (oh Clockwork it shoots venom out too!) spider. The damn thing was at least five meters long, and that wasn't counting its legs. Her blasts simply bounced off the arachnid's exoskeleton.

Danny – the idiot – managed to get himself caught first among the team. After a solid two hours of walking through tunnels and scaling up rock walls ("or just flying." "Shut up and help before we fall!") while marking with sharpie ink as they progressed, the only member with full energy rushed ahead at the slightest sparkle, curiosity and pure recklessness taking over. What he saw was apparently a metal corner, stuck rather loosely inside a sagging silk cocoon. Without thinking or checking his surroundings, he immediately started plucking and shifting away the silk, "a box?" before feeling a soft impact on his back. A half second pause and then he was pulled into the air.

Only five seconds of dizzying wrapping, and he was completely bound in a cocoon of ghost spider silk and dragged away to the ceiling in the room, stuck to another web, surrounded by other cocoons like an ornament. Yet the little shit was still grinning like he wasn't potential spider food.

His sister on the other hand looked quite aggravated if not murderous. "Move out of the way." Jazz was in her ghost peeler armor, aim leveled at the spider's chelicerae, its fangs were still dripping venom from its last shot. She stood firm even with the recoil of the shot she took, knocking the arachnid back towards the other end of its abode. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get yourself killed, Danny." Jazz jumped out of the way of an incoming shot of silk.

Sam snorted, still shooting while aiming for any of its eight eyes (wait, that's definitely more than eight…). "You think he has to try?" She whooped when she landed a shot on one, gaining the attention of the target again.

"I think you made it mad…" Tucker gulped.

Jazz hollered "incoming!" and the three of them ducked out of the way as the spider swept its front leg in a wide arc. Its claw left a clean indent along the wall.

Immediately picking himself off the floor, Tucker typed away on his PDA, adding onto what appeared to be a list of characteristics. "'(Very) sharp claws.' Of course it would," he deadpanned. He then returned to taking pictures again with the same device. Apparently, the flash he set on either distracted the arachnid, or kept blinding it. Probably just irritated it, as the techie made a very unmanly squeal when he jumped out of the way of a stray venom shot and bolted away from the corrosive liquid. "Alright, I think I've got enough pictures." Pressing himself to the side of the wall of one of the tunnels, he peaked out as he tucked away his PDA and pulled out a compact ecto-gun from a different pocket.

A few minutes later of keeping their distance and pushing the spider back, it abruptly froze. Literally. Their ghost teen partner orbited around the creature, blasting it into an ice cube within seconds. "Okay, we should probably move on now. Let's go!" he smiled.

"You couldn't do that sooner?" Jazz said as her armor retracted.

"I would have waited longer, but my back started itching and my legs were starting to get stiff." He directed his gaze down for the others to look him over again and grinned. "Also, I really wanted my souvenir." His arm firmly clutched onto a long rectangular metal box, stray strands of silk still latching onto it.

"Oh, and because I didn't want to deal with them." He pointed the thumb of his unoccupied hand behind him. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of little versions of the spider pooling out from some of the smaller tunnels on the side of the room.

"""…""" Tucker and Jazz squeaked while Sam just looked peeved. They watched as the rock walls filled with black on what little surfaces they had illuminated with their flashlights and camera flash. Apparently, their ghost boy deemed it necessary to give his teammates a better view by illuminating the cave in its entirety with another ball of ecto-energy. The sight was not comforting.

Danny then threw a big ectobeam behind him, landing a solid three-meter radius blast at the front of incoming swarm. He once again lit the tunnels green as he bolted for the same tunnel they entered from.

Colorful arrays of curses towards Danny's name was echoing throughout the mountain caves as the teenagers fled through the tunnels, without care for which way they were going.

Directions be damned.

* * *

 **I never knew it was possible to lose so much motivation in life.**


	7. Chapter 6

**As you know, this story is the bastard child of my lack of desire to be productive and my extreme boredom that led to me watching Butch Hartman's YouTube video from 2017. Thus, it's my bastard child, and I will try to see this thing to the very end.**

* * *

Clack. Clack. Clack…

Aragon sat, smirking, the sound of stone chess pieces against the wooden board in front of him could be heard clearly in the silence of his chamber. Until,

"Your highness," his executioner bowed in greeting.

The draconic royal continued to shift the pieces of both colors around rather absentmindedly. "What is it?"

"While our forces are still expanding, recruits are also growing restless, sharing much doubt and skepticism."

Aragon huffed. "I suppose that's to be expected. After all, all I've done is rouse their curiosity." He picked up a black pawn that was set aside from the board placed it randomly on the board. "I need those that are willing to listen first. Elsewhereness is not a small thing to offer, and the perfect incentive to achieve that." He added another. "Now that I have at least have their attention, you can begin organizing them.

"Use the same channels to spread word that in show of good faith," he clenches a fist around another pawn, "reveal to them that I possessed a page of my own. That it is stowed away in my realm's castle and something even my sister is not aware about, let alone the location of. So, once I overthrow her, the page is theirs."

The subject moved his head lower. "Excuse me for speaking out of terms, your highness, but will you not personally address them?"

"Not yet. Keep them scattered." A sharp fingernail dug into a random piece. "I know my sister has been keeping watch of my movements, and the last thing I need is for her to have a full grasp of my location and actions."

"By your will," his faithful subject responded and promptly left his monarch in peace again.

"Besides, I also don't want to deal with the recruits inevitably arguing over who gets ownership of the page. They can fight amongst themselves on that one after I get my kingdom back." Aragon never bothered to even look up from his board. He tilted the white queen back and forth with the tip of his nail as he mused aloud, "Thanks to the ghost child, he has reignited the flame of desire for Elsewhereness throughout the entire Ghost Zone. While he is occupied by all the ghosts trying to seize his page, I can use this opportunity to not only regain the throne, but also weaken one of his most dependable allies – my sister. Everyone in the Ghost Zone knows at this point how he operates. Fighting and winning against him, while possible, isn't favorable for anyone. Instead, when I reclaim my realm and imprison my sister, I will make my demands and Phantom will decisively relinquish the page he's acquired in order to save her. Thus, I will regain my place on the throne, and those predictably eager pawns can get their page."

Even with his head bowed down, the axe-bearer's surprise was apparent. "You are actually willing to relinquish the page, your majesty?"

The prince waved a dismissive hand before reaching towards the board again. "It's fine. I've had that particular page for centuries and have already memorized its contents, from the writing down to the tears and folds on its edges. Deciphering it, however, is another matter entirely. I couldn't make any progress with it after this long, so it's meaningless to keep it at this point. I'll make better use of it as a bargaining chip."

 _Besides_ , Aragon's lips split open into a grin, _once I get my kingdom back, what's to stop me from just getting the page back as well?_

There was a harsh crack followed by the sound of the white stone king crumbling, turning into more pebbles littering the cave floor.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Danny, don't you dare break open that cocoon."

"But it's moving. Doesn't that mean whoever's in there is still…" He paused, "alive?"

" _Whatever_ is in there could also intend to eat us."

"Don't you dare put more spiders after us!"

"At least let me have a sample of the silk this time."

"Tucker, no."

*Crack*

"Danny, NO!"

* * *

Black gloved hands slapped down on the desk as Walker rose from his seat. "So…that punk prince is looking to stir up trouble now, huh?" He straightened and moved his hands behind his back, "I don't even need to check my book the know that that's against the rules."

Bullet watched with his back pressed to the office wall. His single eye bounced twice back and forth from his now pacing boss and the lone minion floating rigidly in the center of the room.

Walker stopped and turned to face his second in command. "Meanwhile, Phantom's either in hiding or fighting nonstop since most of the Ghost Zone is probably still after him and his page."

"Yes, sir," the ghost replied dutifully, "the reports of his recent lack of presence in the human realm suggest he the former, sir."

"And thanks to him," Bullet spoke up, gaining Walker's attention, "he's started another frenzy over those pages. Everyone's scurrying around trying to find him or trying to get more information about Aragon's. The only thing keeping them in control is that a lot of them are actually joining Aragon's side." He shrugged and added, "you can't deny it's a tempting offer."

"You're right," Walker grunted, "I can't. And what I also can't do, is let Aragon start a fight like that with my realm at risk of being in the crossfire. The last thing I want is another riot." The warden stopped to think over his next course of action.

On one hand, he also wants those pages. That is without question. Problem 1: there's no proof that the page he's offering exists. Problem 2: there's also no proof that Aragon would keep his end of the deal and just keep the page for himself. And problem 3… he just didn't like the idea of working with or for the guy. Aragon managed to lose an entire realm for Clockwork's sake. Even he didn't mess up that badly when Danny had all the prisoners rebel against him.

Problems 1 and 2 however, fix themselves. Because if Aragon backs down on his end of the bargain, he's going to have a good portion of the Ghost Zone out for his ectoplasm, or at least hold a pretty big grudge. And since majority of his forces are probably not loyal to his cause, he can just as easily have his forces turn on him. So, he most likely can't turn back on them. Though there is also the possibility of him faking the loss of his page or have some fake forged, but that method likely has its own risks.

Now on the other hand, if he looks at this more objectively, he could look at the situation like this. Phantom and his team were occupied. Aragon was about to wage war with his sister over their realm. And everyone's in a rapidly growing frenzy, practically waiting for the other shoe to drop. So, the problem – absolute and utter chaos incoming.

There was no way this was going to stay contained within their own realm now that Aragon's escalated this to levels beyond a simple family squabble, because the damn halfa brat _just_ _had_ to happen upon a page of his own (and by complete accident too!), and that just gave the prince more ideas. And there's no way of knowing who else would get dragged into the fight because the prince is still a previously ruling monarch for centuries and knows warfare tactics. So, the guy was at least smart enough to keep his activities hidden from even Walker's own entire Ghost Zone Police Department.

He either loses a potential opportunity for Elsewhereness, or he potentially loses control of his realm and everyone around him. His own police force was getting fidgety by the work shift after word of another page got out. Discipline isn't lacking in his realm thankfully, so no one's fallen out of line…yet.

He should have seen something like this coming. Every time that journal comes up, or even Sojourn's name gets mentioned, something is always about to go down. Always. And frankly, he can't argue. No ghost doesn't want those pages – and there aren't many of them either, at least those discovered, like a dozen or so at most.

In the end, the source of both problems at hand all came down to the journal pages.

 _Elsewhereness or order_ …he pondered. His pacing never slowed during his entire internal debate. Well, no one's ever said he wasn't greedy. _Why not both_?

"Search and seizure," he finally announced. "Begin mobilizing for a big one."

"Where to?" Bullet asked.

"Everywhere." Both Bullet and the officer looked bewildered. "We'll keep most of our power here to keep the prisoners in check. But I want you," Walker points to the officer, "to begin setting up search teams to track down all the recovered pages and bring them back here. I doubt anyone who's ever found a page would hide it somewhere far from their own realm. All the page locations, or at least the last ghost in contact with it, should be in the records somewhere so get researching immediately. Do whatever preparations you can make for now and come back later for further instructions."

The goon saluted and withdrew from the office, and Bullet followed after, "Bullet," but stopped and silently shut the door. "I have a different assignment for you," he heard before he finished fully turning to face his superior. Bullet floated back to the center of the office as his boss leaned back to sit against the front of his desk with his legs casually crossed. "What do you need, sir?"

Green eyes looked squarely at a single red. "Leave the mass search grunt work to the others. Now that Aragon's taking action, he's risking greater exposure to himself, meaning we have a chance to get more information on his whereabouts. If we work fast enough, we can try to arrest him before the situation escalates. If not, well, we can try to contain it."

"You're purposely exposing the other pages," Bullet realized. "But that could just speed up the state we're in now!"

"Either I get the pages, or I create another scene separate from Aragon's influence. I can't stop a war against the entire Ghost Zone that's trying to get a single page. But what will happen if suddenly it's not just one page, but a dozen all at once?" The warden didn't wait for an answer and just smirked. "Everyone's going to scatter and try to get in on a piece of the journal. His recruits will scatter into smaller forces that we can actually contain."

"But won't we end up as a target?"

"My prison is one of the greatest strongholds in the realm, they can try to get in, but they will not get out." Walker crossed his arms. "So, you will scout out in all the pandemonium and keep me updated while also trying to track down Aragon. Is that clear?"

The second-in-command nodded. "Yes, sir." And left the office, closing the door behind him.

A grin slipped past his impassive expression as he walked back behind his desk. "I've probably waited long enough for this," he reached up to his chest and pulled out the black handkerchief tucked in his suit pocket. Carefully unfolding the cloth in his palm revealed a simple silver key. He unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk with the key, revealing various folders one would typically see in an office, and pulled out a simple manila envelope from the third to last folder. With careful ease, he unwound the red string around the buttons of the packet.

A single worn-out, but well-preserved piece of parchment.

* * *

 **Even though Walker's probably not the oldest ghost in the realm, I wouldn't be surprised if he's seized it from one of his prisoners. Not that it matters how he's gotten it to begin with.**

 **I would also like to thank you, everyone who's followed, favorited, or commented, for your support.**


	8. Chapter 7

**I'm questioning if I know what I'm doing anymore.**

* * *

"Plasmius!" Skulker burst in announcing his arrival by sticking his head through the very center of the mayor's office desk.

Vlad ejected the tea in his mouth, used his telekinesis to lock the office door, then pushed away and swiveled his chair towards the window to close the curtains. All in the span of 0.7 second. He hooked a finger at the edge of the curtain and pulled slightly to peak out. Then sighed. While the man doesn't want to admit to any of Danny's taunts about his age, this definitely just made him one step closer to the Ghost Zone.

Vlad rested his forehead against curtain hidden window. His "debatably beating heart," as Daniel oh so eloquently worded it, was becoming steadily less erratic with each exchange of oxygen with his lungs. He warily listened for any voices or footsteps invading the silence of the room, until finally he was muttering under his relatively even breath "second time this week" and mentioning a relation between ghosts and his tea.

"How did you not detect me coming?" Skulker raised a mechanical brow. How the ghost manages to make his robotic head be so expressive, still stumps the man.

"Well, if you at least had the sensibility to think about where you were bursting into my office from," Vlad cocked his head towards his guest, or rather his desk, "maybe you would realize that a ghost's presence isn't always the primary focus of my attention in particularly this city."

The ghost took a moment to scan the area around him, taking in the desktop monitor and various documents strewn around the desk and now also the floor. Quite a few of them were severely dyed with tea. He turned back with a sheepish but apologetic cringe and floated out and in front of the desk, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. "Sorry, I figured flying underground would be faster," which it actually is, given the amount of ghost detection equipment there is in the city.

Vlad seated himself back behind his desk as he began reorganizing his desk space. "What did he do this time?"

The ghost paused for a moment. "Just to be clear, we're both talking about Phantom, right?"

"I always assume it's Daniel. Who else could I we be referring to?"

"Right," Skulker straightened up in front of him, "I need you to tell me where he is."

"I don't know," Vlad responded without missing a beat.

"You," Skulker halted and pointed a metal finger towards Vlad, "…don't know where he is…?" He sounded out each word of the sentence slowly, as if something about the statement was terribly wrong.

"Either something is wrong with the speaker system of your suit or you're now recently becoming acquainted with your mouth."

Ignoring that last jibe. "You always know where the whelp is and what he's doing! 24/7!"

Vlad just scoffed, mildly insulted. "While I do keep an eye on him, I'm not constantly scrutinizing his every move. Honestly, what do you take me for?"

"I don't know," Skulker shrugged, "the few times he stupidly decided to hang around my realm – whether to just annoy me or whatever – he's mentioned your 'stalkerish, fruitloopy–'"

"Okay, I don't need to hear the rest, thank you," Vlad promptly cut him off. Then sarcastically commented, "I'm glad to finally know how Daniel has been depicting me towards everyone in the Ghost Zone."

"Well, he was probably exaggerating for the sake of telling a story–"

"Moving on," the elder halfa interrupted again. "But honestly, why are you asking this of me? You're supposed to be Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. You've spent more time tracking him down than fighting him on your near biweekly basis." He briefly added an "appropriate for your name" under his breath.

Skulker's expression immediately morphed into one of frustration. "Because I can't find him! The whelp most likely went into hiding after he got that page – which is the smart thing to do, mind you –" Vlad nodded his consent. "But now for some reason, instead of the Ghost Zone flocking after him, all the chaos is building up there instead of here in your city. All because Aragon got new ideas thanks to him on how to take back his realm."

"Aragon, as in that medieval, draconic prince Aragon? As I recall he was exiled from his realm. His constant escapes from imprisonment and attempts at retaliation finally snapped what little patience his sister had remaining for him. Daniel said she tail whipped him out of the realm in that particular confrontation."

That last statement earned a snicker from Skulker. "And Walker too. I saw some of his goons heading towards the Ghost Writer's place on my way here. Should have figured a book worm like him would have hidden a page somewhere among his stuff."

Vlad snorted. He would have thought the same. Clasping his hands together, he rested them on his desk like he was speaking to a business partner. "So, just to make sure I have everything straight. After Daniel came across that journal page of his, Aragon decided to take advantage of the commotion to conceal his activities while offering his own document as a reward. All so he can amass an army big enough to overthrow his sister and rule over his kingdom again. Meanwhile, Walker seems to be trying to seize pages for himself for whatever reason. Though I have my theories on why. And, while those two are acting, the rest of the Ghost Zone is trying to get their own page." He received a nod of confirmation. "So that's why it's been relatively quiet here. I just figured that Ms. Gray was handling her job well or Daniel got caught out traveling in the Ghost Zone."

"He's in the Ghost Zone?!"

Vlad indifferently shrugged. "He should still be. They only left early in the morning today. Though I'm not sure when they'll be back, since it turned out that their destination is apparently quite far this time. So, they might not be back within the end of the day."

"You are way too calm about this," Skulker stated, only to receive another shrug.

"I expected a lot more mayhem at this point. But what I still don't fully comprehend is why you feel the need to find Daniel."

"Honestly, I was hoping he could settle all this before it all got out of hand."

"You are aware Daniel has greater potential to blow up the Ghost Zone than to stop it from collapsing on itself, right? His very presence has a much greater chance at just making things worse."

"Well, I don't have any better ideas! This all basically started because of him, so I figured he could also be the one to end it. And you're clearly not going to do anything about it."

"Daniel has entrusted me with taking care of all matters on this side while he is away; which, the only reason I am informing you of his absence is because I suppose it doesn't matter now if any of you know."

"Then can you at least tell me where he went?" Skulker demanded.

Vlad retracted his hands to reach behind his desk and opened one of the drawers. "Here." After shuffling around, he gently tossed a small rectangular device with various buttons and a blinking square screen. "It won't exactly be tracking him, but it will lead you to the Specter Speeder they're piloting. That's the best I can offer you."

"So you are still stalking him."

"It's something I hid in the Specter Speeder as a precaution months ago," the man emphasized on the "precaution" part. "Of all the things the Fentons made their devices capable of, they sometimes kept track of ghosts better than their own inventions and often their kids. Regardless, that's all the help I can give you and all I am willing to provide.

Skulker gave a full-toothed grin. "That's fine. I can handle the rest."

"Good. At least you're not telling me I have to bail him out of Walker's prison."

"Have you?"

"No!"

After Skulker departed and phased back underground, Vlad summoned the three vultures, only to send them away again. He leaned back against his chair while picking up one of the multipage documents his secretary dropped off, appearing to read through it leisurely while he waited. However, the irritated tapping of his fingers against his armrest suggested otherwise. Almost two hours later, the Fright Knight emerged in a dramatic burst of green flames before him. This time the business man didn't react extremely.

"Fright Knight," Vlad greeted, setting the document he was looking over aside. He only got to the third page. And processed none of it.

"You requested for me?" The spectral warrior returned. He noticed the birds that came with him settling around the office, settling atop various platforms or window frames near the ceiling of the room.

"I'm sure you are aware of what is occurring on that side?" A short "aye" and nod was all the confirmation Vlad received, and all he needed.

Vlad took a breath and huffed, resolved. He spread his hands apart towards Fright Knight with his elbows resting against the wooden desk and spoke. "As of this moment forward, until the matter in the Ghost Zone regarding Sojourn's journal pages and Aragon's war is resolved, I am temporarily ceasing all business matters, partnerships and relations with you in the event that they will resultantly conflict with your personal desires during said event."

* * *

"This is ridiculous." Clockwork floated with his arms crossed facing the Observant High Council head. Around him, his one-eyed and panicking colleagues were preaching about his responsibilities as the ghost of time. For the fifth time since this meeting started – he pulled up the chain on his waist to check his pocket watch, just for the irony of it – two days ago.

"The situation is escalating as we speak!"

"It's not tha–"

"This could become worse than the journal incident of 42!"

"No it–"

"Fix this!"

Jesus Christ. (And he's met the guy before.) Clockwork leaned to his side, letting his scepter support what little weight a ghost possibly had and rested his head against it. Oh well. He could hold out for another week or so of this if it meant more amusement later on. The timeline can't mess itself up that badly without him right now, so him being here with the tribunal instead of in his tower should be fine. Now, if he just stayed quiet, he could probably delay this for at least another–

"SILENCE!"

Or not.

"Enough!" The counsel head erupted while slamming the mallet down on his podium. "We are all here for one reason, and that is the most recent events due to the emergence of another of Sojourn's journal pages."

Clockwork smiled, amused. He wasn't hiding it, and the entire council already knew why.

The counsel head however, just signed and shook his head. "Clockwork, even you must admit that when it comes to his journal, chaos always follows."

"I do," he confirmed with a nod.

"And you acknowledge that every incident prior has led to so much disorder that we have had to interfere in each one."

Clockwork shrugged. "To some degree, yes. Except for the last one, since the one who found it locked himself away on his own weeks later."

"And you have acknowledged that Phantom–"

"Actually, you just declared them as my responsibility on your own and then–"

"My point is," the council head glared with his one eye, "that this is within your jurisdiction, and we expect you to take immediate action before this series of events leads to another incident like many of those in the past."

Clockwork returned the same straight look back. "My interference isn't necessary. Yes, they are my responsibility – and yes you can say I acknowledge it now – but I don't control everything about them, whether or not that person is even still around."

One council member elevated from amongst his peer. "This isn't about taking over the situation. This is about preventing the situation from worsening."

"Yes, it is. To you at least." Clockwork accused. "Many of you were just proposing we confiscate all the pages so that no one in the Ghost Zone could fight amongst themselves anymore over them. Again."

"It's still viable option." Another arose from the stand. "This has been a reoccurring cycle for eons. And nearly all of them have resulted in near catastrophic mayhem. Or does anyone want another reminder of the journal incident of 42?"

"In my defense, ghostly black holes like that rarely occur, with a probability less likely than even an asteroid with anti-ecto properties hurdling towards Earth." The temporal ghost crossed his arms.

Everyone shuddered as well as the council leader. "So, then what do you propose?"

"Nothing." All the Observants were just about to erupt into another rant again, but the council head raised a hand before a sound could be made. "We can't just confiscate the entire journal without the entire Ghost Zone rebelling. They'll think we're abusing our power in hopes of reaching Elsewhereness ourselves." The Observants make noises akin to indignant snorts or huffs. "Which is ridiculous, since we already know how to reach it but just don't feel a need. And of course, given our roles and duties in the realm," Clockwork shrugged, while everyone else remained silent and listened.

"So, you claim that nothing significant enough will occur from this incident that will warrant our interference?" The Observant High Council leader asked.

"I've already taken all necessary precautions before the incident had even started," Clockwork assured with a smile.

Members of the council murmured amongst each other.

"I'm leaving it to Daniel."

The entire council exploded with protests.

* * *

"Then? Are you alright with the terms of our agreement?"

"Yes, it is fine by me."

"Bah!" The vulture perched on the bookshelf scoffed after Vlad finished his pledge. "This is basically pointless. It doesn't change anything for you." One of the other two nodded while the last just shrugged, raising his wings up and back down.

"It's a matter of formality. I'd rather do this than risk getting wound up in the crossfire somehow."

"Somehow? The main reason it took us so long to get back here was because you already shut off your own ghost portal back at your lab the same day Phantom came to your office with that page of his," the bird stated. "In fact, I'm surprised that you didn't go into that kid's house yourself just to shut off the Fenton's portal as well. You even had the ghost shield around your mansion up until yesterday." The Fright Knight was visibly startled, though he took notice of the other vultures' lack of reaction.

"This establishes our agreement before I break contact from the Ghost Zone," Vlad declared as he crossed his arms. "I'm staying out of this until everything is resolved. The Ghost Zone can go ahead and implode on itself without me, thank you."

"That's the main reason?" Fright Knight looked puzzled.

"To keep me out of this? Yes." Vlad made no hesitation in his confirmation. "Unfortunately, I can't lock down the other portal, at risk of trapping Daniel there in the process."

"Would this not be easier to resolve if you got involved yourself?"

"I don't have any interesting dealing with that foolish fallen prince. Pariah makes him look like a newborn throwing a tantrum, and with the age difference even more so. So whatever you decide to do there, just keep it away from here."

"You are very adamant about being detached from this matter," Fright Knight stated. The ghost warrior still looked baffled despite the helmet concealing most of his face. "Are you not at least interested in the pages?"

Vlad seemed to ponder on the statement with a raised brow. A very faint sign of realization appeared on his face before he murmured to himself. "That's right. You were still sealed in the pumpkin." The three birds nodded, the tassels of their hats swinging with the movement. "Let's just say, I've tried putting my bets on more reliable resources. The journal pages are quite frankly too much of a hassle that I don't want to deal with again. Unlike the Infi-Map, which I have attained at one point."

The Fright Knight seemed to accept the response and left the same way he appeared. In a burst of flames. Drama queen. (Quote Daniel, not him.)

"Well, if that's all you need from us," the first of the three vultures started, "we'll be heading back to the mansion in Wisconsin until all this blows over. Maybe waste some time with the Dairy King." The other two bid farewell with a nod and flew through the walls, but the leader stayed behind to ask, "are you sure about this?" curious but not questioning. "This is Sojourn's journal page we're talking about. You could be missing your chance."

"I could ask you the very same thing now, couldn't I?" Vlad responded, already returning to his work. "It's not like either of us never tried."

The bird huffed. "Fair." And flew off to follow his companions, leaving Vlad in comfortable silence the second time today.

"Like I said," Vlad spoke aloud to himself, left to his own thoughts and memories again. "I hedged my bets on something more reliable. An artifact of legend as well. Said to be able to lead the user anywhere, even to their destiny. And yet you think I haven't tried to reach Elsewhereness, Fright Knight?" He drank what little remained of his tea and set the cup down, leaning back against his chair.

"I'm still here. Aren't I?"

* * *

 **I honestly didn't expect the interaction between Skulker and Vlad to end up like that. It sort of just happened. Do they seem OOC? God I'm bad at this. Oh well.**


End file.
